annie le murder suspect pleads not guilty

Raymond Clark III, the animal research technician charged with killing Yale graduate student Annie Le, appeared in New Haven Superior Court today and pleaded not guilty to murder and an added charge of felony murder: Yale lab tech pleads not guilty in student killing.

Clark is accused of stranging Le in September, five days before her planned wedding. In court, he waived his right to a probable cause hearing, where he could have challenged whether prosectors had enough evidence to try him.

Prosecutors revealed that they were adding the felony murder count. Felony murder is alleged when someone dies during the commission of a felony, such as robbery, burglary, kidnapping and sexual assault, or an attempted felony. Under Connecticut's felony murder law, prosecutors don't have to prove that a killing was intentional.

Murder and felony murder each carry a sentence of 25 to 60 years in prison. Details of the new charge, including what the alleged felony was, weren't released. There are a lot of facts about this case that remain unclear, including a motive, but the investigation is still apparently ongoing. More here: Clark pleads not guilty.